Sharks face welfare challenges both in fisheries - where finning and bycatch cause significant suffering - and in captivity, where their requirements are difficult to meet in aquarium settings.
Shark welfare is a dual challenge: in fisheries, the welfare harms are on a vast scale and include the particularly cruel practice of live finning; in captivity, the difficulty of meeting the needs of animals that evolved for open ocean habitats creates chronic welfare problems in all but the largest and best-designed facilities. The welfare case against finning is clear and the legal prohibitions where they exist are appropriate. Aquarium welfare is more nuanced: well-designed large aquaria with appropriate species selection can provide tolerable welfare for some species while contributing to conservation education. However, keeping species that require open ocean conditions in captivity cannot be justified on welfare grounds.